Ski Lift Running on Solar Power

The point about diesel v solar is that after 6 years, you Brucie, are paying for your diesel, bio or non- bio, and have to buy your lift pass, whereas Ally has recouped all of her investment, and is then skiing for free. Every year. -)
The neat app here is that a ski lift is a daytime usage, which is just what solar is made for.
there would be some maintenance, but it is minimal, c/w say turbines. The performance degradatio would be effective after 20/25 years.
Solar costs have fallen significantly since China took up manufacture in a serious way, they are really tops with their research too.

I'd be really concerned at the volcano producing a massive ash cloud which blocks out much of the sun reducing the power created by the solar panels.

There would be no shortage of bio fuel, unless the Swiss decide to stop using oil for their meat Fondues/chips. It need not have a price tag, as much of this oil is considered waste.
The costs of replacing damaged and worn out panels needs to be factored in, plus any costs for degradation of the output, caused by faults with ageing of the circuits, obliging the operator to purchase power from the grid.

I'm not sure that vegetable oil would be suitable for a motor running a ski lift.

http://www.vegoilmotoring.com/eng/frequently-asked-questions

How do converted vehicles perform in cold weather?
As vegetable oil becomes thicker at lower temperatures Elsbett recommend blending winter diesel and vegetable oil at temperatures approaching -10°C to allow for normal operation. If the temperature is likely to go down to -15°C then the SVO should be completely switched to winter diesel.

Four of our Coastal buses here run on used cooking oil supplied by that company, and they reckon it's about 20 pence per litre cheaper than diesel, although diesel engines in cars etc. do have to be converted to run solely on vegetable oil (cost for a car is apparently £1,200).

In the U.K. waste cooking oil now costs about 55 pence per litre to buy (I don't know about Swiss prices), and I think if it's used commercially you have to pay duty on it. I have just seen a shocking breakdown of prices of normal diesel and biodiesel (which is apparently made from vegetable oil but involves the use of fossil fuels etc.).

Prices as of May 2009
Diesel
Duty = 50 pence
Production = 23 pence
VAT = 19 pence
Retailer = 5 pence
Delivery = 6 pence
Gross profit = 27 pence
Total = 130 pence

Biodiesel
Duty = 30 pence
Production = 70 pence
VAT = 21 pence
Gross profit = 20 pence
Total = 141 pence

Ally you are quite correct in that you can't apply our Tax regime to the Swiss situation to judge running costs.

Bandit,
I am sorry for the slight diversion, but I was so horrified to discover that half the money I pay for my petrol goes on duty and VAT.

The Swiss price for diesel is only 0.2 Euros less than we pay here at the moment, according to http://www.aaireland.ie/petrolprices/

so, I should think they must have fuel taxes of their own. I don't know, however, how much Tenna would have to pay per litre for diesel to run the lift motor because I don't know how their tax regime would apply to this particular use of diesel. So I can't compare the running costs for solar and diesel.

But I'm sure they must have spent a great deal of time working all this out, and that in their particular situation the solar panels were the best option.

The U.S. is the cheapest on that list - only 0.66 Euros per litre for diesel.

Ally

Dave Mac wrote:The point about diesel v solar is that after 6 years, you Brucie, are paying for your diesel, bio or non- bio, and have to buy your lift pass, whereas Ally has recouped all of her investment, and is then skiing for free. Every year. -)

Sorry Dave, but I dont agree that a capital cost of 3/4 of a million poundscould be recouped in 6 years. This would entail making a gross profit of £125,000 per year or a yield on investment of 16.66% which in todays financial climate would be astronomical.

If you can confirm these figures, I suggest we all club together and buy the J2ski solar drag lift somewhere, say Niederau, sit back and count the cash as it rolls in!!! :lol:

Brucie wrote:

Dave Mac wrote:The point about diesel v solar is that after 6 years, you Brucie, are paying for your diesel, bio or non- bio, and have to buy your lift pass, whereas Ally has recouped all of her investment, and is then skiing for free. Every year. -)

Sorry Dave, but I dont agree that a capital cost of 3/4 of a million poundscould be recouped in 6 years. This would entail making a gross profit of £125,000 per year or a yield on investment of 16.66% which in todays financial climate would be astronomical.

If you can confirm these figures, I suggest we all club together and buy the J2ski solar drag lift somewhere, say Niederau, sit back and count the cash as it rolls in!!! :lol:

J2ski could lead the way here. Admin could install solar panels to power the servers for the site, and make J2ski an obvious choice for environmentally conscious advertisers and skiers.